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Their home addresses were taken as well as two other places they spent a lot of time.

They used an inventory that creates hourly estimates of air pollution at 20x20 metre grid points throughout the UK to paint a picture of the pollution they are exposed to.

CAN CANNABIS LEAD TO PSYCHOSIS?

Powerful ‘skunk’ cannabis flooding the streets of Britain increases the risk of psychosis five-fold, a major study revealed last week.

The problem is so widespread that nearly a third of psychosis cases in London are caused by the drug, researchers found.

They warned that 94 per cent of all cannabis available on the streets of the capital is now in the form of skunk.

It is cultivated to have super-high levels of the psychoactive ingredient THC, making it up to ten times more powerful than the ‘weed’ and ‘hashish’ common 20 to 30 years ago.

Researchers from King’s College London studied 2,100 people in 11 cities in Europe and South America in the biggest study of its kind.

They found that the link with psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia and paranoid delusion was strongest in London and Amsterdam – the two cities where high-potency cannabis is most commonly available.

The researchers, led by Dr Joanne Newbury, found that psychotic experiences were significantly more common in urban areas.

Here, the exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and very small particulate matter (PM2.5) was highest.

NO2 and NOx made up 60 per cent of the link between psychosis and living in an urban area, according to the study, published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Transport is the biggest creator of NO2 and NOx, and therefore the Government has said it will spend £3.5billion to clean up our roads.

Plans have been drawn with the Clean Air Strategy to reduce the five most dangerous air pollutants, including NO2, NOx and PM2.5, by 2030, considering it is one of the biggest threats to health in the UK.

Dr Newbury accepted the study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, could not prove pollutants caused psychotic experiences.

But she said: 'Our findings suggest air pollution could be a contributing factor in the link between city living and psychotic experiences.'

Dr Newbury and colleagues said they could not rule out noise pollution as a driving factor, as noise disrupts sleep and causes stress, which in turn could cause psychosis.

It is suggested the brain could be directly influenced by polluted air, though more trials are needed.

This study is the first to comb through detailed geographical air pollution data and compare it to data from young people across a nation.

Co-author Professor Frank Kelly said: ‘Children are most vulnerable to the health impacts of air pollution owing to the juvenility of the brain and respiratory system.

'Uncovering the mechanisms linking the urban environment to psychosis should be an urgent health priority.'

Senior author Dr Helen Fisher, from the IoPPN, said psychotic disorders could be prevented by dealing with the early signs in adolescence.

She added: 'Psychotic disorders are difficult to treat and place a huge burden on individuals, families, health systems and society more broadly.'

It comes after a major study revealed last week that powerful ‘skunk’ cannabis flooding the streets of Britain increases the risk of psychosis five-fold.

The problem is so widespread that nearly a third of psychosis cases in London are caused by the drug, researchers found.

AIR POLLUTION KILLS MORE PEOPLE A YEAR THAN SMOKING, STUDY SAYS

Air pollution is killing more people every year than smoking, according to research published in March.

Researchers in Germany and Cyprus estimated that air pollution caused 8.8million extra deaths in 2015 - almost double the previously estimated 4.5million.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates smoking kills about seven million people a year globally.

The researchers found that in Europe air pollution caused an estimated 790,000 deaths, between 40 and 80 percent of them from cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks and stroke.

The study, published in the European Heart Journal, focused on ozone and the smallest pollution particles, known as PM2.5, that are breathed into the lungs and may even be able to cross into the blood.

The researchers said new data indicated the hazardous health impact of PM2.5 was much worse than previously thought.

They urged a reduction in the upper limit for PM2.5 in the European Union, which is currently set at 25 micrograms per cubic metre, 2.5 times higher than the WHO guideline.

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Psychosis more common in 'people living in areas plagued by pollution'